SBR Utopia - OPEN (Page 12)

After doing this a couple times early in the year, 2 x 20 wasn't so bad even though the power output was noticeably higher. Especially with this vid being a flat TT, it's a long yet strong controlled burn. They jam Bobridge, Phinney, Wiggins & Millar into the first 11 min, then the last 19 are chasing Cancellara & Martin. So it builds nicely.

Screw shoes are awesome. I really want to make some even though I have absolutely NO reason to. Very cool!

NIce work Jason.  All this talk of power has gotten me wondering....What kind of power am I putting down?  I don't recall being one of those "heavy sweat" guys but at spin class I'm really the only one with a pool of sweat under the bike.

If I wanted to get some type of power setup on my roadie what kind of dough $$$ would I be lookin' at?

If you have a trainer, speed sensor, and an ANT+ usb thumbstick...it will only cost you about $10 a month to get virtual power with trainerroad.  The number may not be "accurate" (it isn't for me), but it will at least give you a baseline for training and improvement.

If you're looking for the real thing, where you can train outdoors and get power measurements from a strain gauge rather than a speed calculation, then you're looking at a little more money.

Powertap will be your cheapest option, and there are used wireless models that can be had in the $500 range already built into a wheel.  New models will run you closer to $1k built into a new wheel.

Crank based options currently available are SRM, Quarq, and garn farn it...I can't remember the last one...but they are all in the $1500-2500 range, for the PM and crank.

If you're interested in power, I would recommend getting "Training and racing with a Power Meter" by Allen and Coggan.  They go over the basis of training with power, as well as the options you have (pros and cons) of the current powermeters on the market.

Lots of people here train with power, and I know the topic is a bit confusing, so feel free to ask more questions.

Also keep in mind that you'll need a computer or watch that can read power such as a garmin 500, 310xt, 910xt, Timex global trainer, Joule, etc.

I dont' know about screw shoes (I migjht try those) but my Yaktrax do fine on the pavement/asphalt.  Two winters ago I had a long run, 16-20 miles where 2/3 was on ice/packed snow the other third on sidewalks/asphalt.  No issues at all.

Dude, that's a fast 1500m.  Is that SCM or LCM?  I would love to play the "catch me if you can" triathlon game.

Thanks, that's SCM.  

I play the "catch me if you can" triathlon game every single time I race!  Unfortunately someone always does, LOL.

In addition to everything Jason said, if you don't mind having to do a bit more manual work setting things up, you don't even need the $10/month for Trainerroad.  Golden Cheetah will do the same thing (Virtual power) but you will have to set it up yourself as opposed to the simplicity of TR.  I haven't used TR at all but I have done a bit with GC and I think Marc has used it quite a bit.

As Jason said, there is tons of (sometimes confusing) information, feel free to ask questions.

It wouldn't be confusing if you all would stop talking Greek when you talk about power.

I know exactly what you mean.  There really is a bit of a language barrier when you aren't familiar with it.  

Honestly, I felt the same way when I would read threads on ST and eventually after enough "WTF does that mean?" moments, I started doing some researching to try to get the basics of it all.  I've had my Powertap for 2+ years and I think I'm only scratching the surface of it all but I finally feel like I'm getting a bit of a handle of how to train effectively with it (but I still have a long way to go).

Anytime we speak Greek, just hit reply and type out what I said above.  "WTF does that mean?"  

LOL...very true.  I've had my PT for almost 3 years but have only recently been monitoring my TSS (greek again...HAH).

But it's also why I recommend anyone who is even interested in power to read the book.  It will get you familiar with some of the terminology, theories, and training protocols so a discussion with other power users will make sense to you.

I put this paragraph in another thread regarding the same 2x30 min in 1:45 workout above and thought it might be of use here with the power discussion:

For those not familiar, TSS = Training Stress Score, which is a power based metric to help determine to physiological cost of a workout, or how big of a load it was. Intensity matters. If I had done the entire workout in the high 60's (closer to an IM effort level for many) the score would have only been 65% of what it was, or I would have had to ride ~55 min longer, for 2:40 total.

I've had the power meter for ~a year & a half now. I'm into math & science and tracking things is fairly instinctive for me, so it came faster. You don't have to learn everything at once. You can just become familiar with looking at it and getting used to monitoring it during various points of the workout. Then keep adding to that familiarity over time. If , say, the stress score causes your head to swim, then wait on using it until you're more grounded in other things first.

ETA: Good starting points seem to be learning to read what's going on right now and what's going on over the ride. Either by way of overall average and/or taking splits.

Ben...that's basically how I started out with power.  Just monitoring what's going on at the current time, and in perspecitve of a single overall ride.  Then trying to improve those numbers over time.

Once I got a handle on that, then I looked more into TSS and how to actually get my fitness to peak for a race.  You also learn what TSS loads your body can handle over a week or a few weeks before you start to burn out.  All interesting stuff if you're willing to dig into it.

Been out of youch while I was at the inlaws, also seem to have come down with something and am fighting it - no training at the moment, and too much junk food.

New years resolutions will be easy.

Here's a small-pool, swim-cords workout I did today, annotated. About 1:30 duration.

A challenge of bungee-cord workouts that helps make up for its not-movingness is that if you're not in a shallow end, you really don't get any feet-down total rest. "Rest" is treading or sculling water in the deep end.

Another pointer for these workouts is that you can (somewhat) calibrate your effort by seeing where you're at in the pool. If you're swimming at this line/row of tiles, then the next line/row forward means you're working that much harder.

You can also use cords to identify weak/lag points in your stroke ... these will cause you to move backward. You have to keep up a steady, efficient movement to remain in the same place.

One (minor) downside is that because you're not moving forward, you're not creating a small bow wave with a trough that you can breathe in to the side. You will need to rotate slightly more to get your head out of the water to breathe. In my experience, this self-corrects in pool or open water anyway. (And if there's any chop/swells in OW, it can become a moot point).

WU:
1 min fly
2 min back
3 min breast
9 min free @highest pace w/bilat breathing

MS:
2 x (1min IM stroke easy, 2min hard free)

12 x 1min ankle band (wrapped the belt around my ankles)
@10s rest

Drills: (all are standard pool drills as well, actually useful ones IMO)
5 min Competition Doggypaddle (I'll post video and explanation of this/purpose at a later time, ditto for the next ones)
5 min Otter Scull
5 min Tarzan
5 min streamline drill

CD:
5 min moderate free (focus on perfect form)
5 min easy choice

I also have some video angles of me swimming that I'll post after New Year's for comment (gulp!)

I usually go through one set of YakTrax per year, which I guess is ok.I got a new pair yesterday. The ones with the spikes. That's today's experiment.

I mix the yaktrax and screw shoes. Mostly ice = screw shoes, more than a few cm of snow YakTrax. I bet screw shoes would be good for trail running.

I discovered a great new gadget. The Wahoo ant+ dongle for the iphone. My iPhone is now my run GPS and my bike computer. It picks up my HR on the run and uses the iPhone GPS. It picks up my power and HR on the bike. I always had the iphone with me anyway. Every km it tells me my pace in the headset while running.

On the bike it shows me NP, TSS best 30s, 1m, 5m.....and you flip displays with a stroke of the finger. They only have the greek version of these metrics however.

At the end of the workout you press 1 button to upload to each of strava, TP, garmin connect and dropbox, which is great to keep a copy of the files or to send to a coach.

Very nice piece of hardware. It also allows Quarq calibration and diagnostic information, which is cool. I can send my data from my garmin watch to it and then upload to TP, Strava.....

Go get it done!

GO KIM GO!

Do what I do and just get on naked in bare feet to start off with. When you realize it's not so bad but it'd be a lot better with gear, hop off and take a couple minutes to get kitted out, then hop back on and enjoy the ride even more.

I warm up quick when I run too...not so much on the bike

Got in 84 miles today on a chilly and windy group ride, I'm at 401km on the Strava challenge for the week, should get close to finishing up tomorrow.